Social Distancing Day Ten

I think the initial shock of what is happening has worn off and I have really embraced whatever we're calling this; social distancing or shelter in place. I'm sure that it will probably be a rollercoaster as this continues but for now we are friends. 

I am off my normal schedule. I got to sleep around midnight and get up around 8:30. It's so nice just to get up and eat breakfast and watch a little lot of TV. I watched hours of Seinfeld today, and did some chores. 

Things are mostly normal here but I'm not sure to do with our mail...

I've just been throwing it in the floor. We said we were gonna glove up and go through it and just trash what we could. I have two amazon packages I haven't opened yet. The last I heard is that the 'rona can live on cardboard for 24 hours so I figured I'd let it sit for a few days before I open it. 

For lunch I made ChaChi and I grilled cheese and soup. I always make my sandwich in the pan and keep the heat on low, then I put mayonnaise on the outside of the bread, instead of butter. I almost burned it today. I was washing the bottle of mayonnaise with soap and water (like I've been doing to a lot of our groceries) and ChaChi walked into the kitchen, we locked eyes and I said, "I'm not crazy, you're crazy." He just looked at me and said, "You're not crazy, you're just being cautious." I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, and I looked away hoping he wouldn't notice. 😂 That kid gets me haha, or he's crazy too.

Ansley made some banana bread. I feel like I was in the kitchen most of the day. I kept getting a terrible smell off and on. Finally, I realize it was that damn cantaloupe...it smelled horrible. It had defeated me and I poured what I could in the sink and bagged up the rest and put in the trash. I was reading an article that said most fruits' seeds bought from the grocery store won't bear fruit anyway. What are they doing to our food? I knew I had some seeds under the sink so I put them in some dirt in half of this apple container.  I know there is a certain time of year you're supposed to do this but who has time to read up on that? Ok, I do but I didn't...anyone surprised? I just thought I'd throw them in some dirt and see what happens. I mean Bloomberg said anyone can do it.

I helped Ryan put up some more wood up and a light fixture. 

ChaChi had 30 math problems to do and it took him about four hours to do them. 😲 He would work a problem and Ansley would check it and was really nice to have everyone home huddled up in the kitchen with me.

I've been reading about how there are mask shortages and saw a few post of people who have made some. I rummaged through some of my old sewing stuff to see if I had anything to make some. I was surprised to find I had some elastic. I don't have much but I'm gonna try to make what I can out of the little bit I have. Here is my first one. It's not the prettiest...of course my bobbin thread ran out 1/2 way through.

I hope you had a great day too!

Social Distancing Day Nine

I have to start with last night. We were in bed asleep and heard Dumdum squawling (isn't that the greatest word? Also spelled squall, I know because I looked it up) in the backyard. He was tussling with another cat from the wrong side of the tracks. Dumdum is a little on the small side and we save his tail often. He hollers, we open the back door and he scurries in. I guess you could say he's a bit of a...well, you know.

We get back in bed and Ryan starts coughing so naturally I go sleep on the sofa, just it case he's got the 'rona. He thinks I'm dramatic...I think he's contagious. We all have allergies so I'm sure it's just allergies but you can never be too careful. I wake up a couple of hours later with the cat standing on his back paws with his tiny, little cat head right in my face. How creepy is that? I woke up again when Ryan was getting ready for work. It was pouring down rain and I couldn't go back to sleep until I knew he made it to work. It was a rough night. 

The kids are having to do their classes online and ChaChi had a virtual meeting on zoom at 10:00 AM. I thought it was cool (I felt like a dorky mom) and ChaChi thought it was stupid. ChaChi is on a block schedule and has four teachers but I've only heard from two of them. I think they have until tomorrow to get in touch with all the students...we'll see.

Then I tried to wake Ansley for the day but I was unsuccessful but how cute is she? When they hit the teen years, they are much cuter and nicer when they are asleep. She is doing online learning too and is not a fan of that or of getting up before 2:00 PM.

I cleaned up a little and decided to clean out my glassware cabinet that looked more like a plasticware cabinet. I swear, I don't know where they come from! We'll I guess that's a lie because the name of the restaurants are plastered across them but you get what I mean. Do they multiply in the cabinets and why do I even put them in the dishwasher? We never use them again.

 I got a text from my neighbor, he was in a real bind and needed a fix. I told him I had what he needed and to wait for a text and I'd make the drop.

 I handed off (from a safe distance and then backed away to a safer distance) to him two heaping cups of the finest all purpose flour money can buy. I told them this would have to be documented but I'd protect his identity. 

When I returned home I started dinner and got a FaceTime call from another neighbor. I almost didn't answer because surely it was a  mistake to FaceTime me!  She suggested we get ten feet apart and drink some beer so hopefully we'll be able to do that tomorrow. 

After dinner we went for a 3.5 mile walk and there were people ALL over the place out walking. I have never seen the amount of people out in one week as were out today! We were having to zigzag all over the street to keep our distance. It felt so good to be outside...it always does.

We saw this huge airplane. Ryan told me what it was but I forgot and he's asleep.

Ansley said, "why's the grass smoking." (it was getting foggy out) I thought it was hilarious. She was joking but it was funny. We always say stupid things but act like we're serious, kind of an inside thing.

People are putting bears in their windows for kids to look for on their walks, like a "bear hunt." They were all over the place! I thought it was a cute idea and enjoyed it more than I should have. Ryan didn't believe that was what was in the windows and said we were crazy. 

We got a late start on our walk, it got dark on us and when we had about a mile left it started raining. Ryan checked the weather before we left...it always cracks me up when we're so far from home and it rains. That never gets old, hahaha.

Love my weird family!

Social Distancing Day Eight

It's a lot like Groundhog Day around here. Watch some murder shows, threaten kids, feel like I have all this time to be productive, and yet not being productive.

Did some laundry, vacuumed a little, should have done a little more. Made eye contact with a jar of cantaloupe, noticed something floating on top...it's probably mold or something, didn't care enough to actually look into it further, decided I would just trash it, never trashed it. We cut some peppers the other night and I reasoned with myself that it would just make more sense to plant something I actually like we eat . So now I have pepper seeds sitting on the counter that I will probably never plant. 

I do this every time someone sneezes. They say,  "I'm overreacting, I say, "tell that to Covid."

Found some old trail mix when I cleaned out the pantry. The nuts were bad that's what she said  so I sorted them from the M & M's and raisins.

 Ryan asked me if I could come help him in the shed. I said, "no" but went anyway. I'm always surprised the things he asks me to do. This evening he wanted me to help him put up a sheet of plywood on the roof to make a ceiling, right now it's just open rafters. He had made a "T" out of some 2x4's that were way taller than me and I was supposed to balance, well more like put pressure on it and try to guide the plywood into place. Like line it up and be square on a chalkline. I'm over there with that plywood like a circus clown trying to balance six plates on sticks or something. He's like, "can you turn the 'T' 90 degrees to the North" or something crazy. I'm like fool, I don't even know what you're saying! So finally, he realized the depths of his stupidity of asking me for help and my stupidity of not knowing how to turn this "T" 90 degrees. He says, "Never mind it's fine, you can go back inside." Well, I must have walked too slow because the next thing I know I'm standing on a tool box with my hands in the air holding up a sheet of plywood.

After that fiasco I came in and made some cinnamon rolls from scratch, per his request. I made 1/2 cinnamon and the other 1/2 I put some jam inside. I had never tried mixing it up but it worked out. Sometimes, I'm too spontaneous for my own good. I can never stick to a plan or a recipe.

 After I rolled and cut them.

 After they had time to rise.

 Cooked.

 About to get in my belly.

Then, I called my mom to try to order her some more groceries but they didn't have any pickup times. We'll try again tomorrow.

Social Distancing Day Seven

"I wish carsickness and homesickness didn't even exist." ChaChi Hehir age 5. This popped up in my "memories" on Facebook today.

To really think about the emotion in those words is almost heartbreaking. I hate that I can't even remember why they were said. ChaChi has always been an old soul with lot of deep thoughts and original perspectives. I guess it's sad to me that now he's fifteen and it's not cool to freely open up about emotions anymore. 

Anyway, it's rainy and dreary and this damn tree has blown over, again. Sometimes, I feel like this tree is living my life, haha. Ryan is out in the back piddling in his "shed quarters" before he has to go to work.

This morning I  watched a two hour Dateline with Keith Morrison. Ryan always comes in when I have these types of shows on and then he gets sucked in but also complains about how long it takes them to "just tell the stupid story" he says that every. time.  He doesn't get Keith Morrison, at all. He's gotta paint a picture. Did you know that Keith Morrison is Chandler Bing/Matthew Perry's stepdad? I never liked Friends. Even in these circumstances I wouldn't watch it but it's only day seven, things could change.

I did some laundry and finally finished the pantry. After Ryan left for work I watched a two hour 20/20 and Ansley came down and then she got sucked in, An hour in, ChaChi came down and fished it up with us.

I had a little retail therapy with some online shopping.

I bought some weights, a pack of underwear...a pack. Who wears underwear in a pack? Senior citizens, toddlers and now me. I have the worst luck with underwear...I'm sure it's the lack of junk in my trunk. I'll have on yoga pants and I'll just be walking along and my underwear will have migrated down into a wad, like not just in my crack but like down my hips. So I'll slide my hand down all cusual-like and try to grab them and do a little shimmy but at the same time try to make it look like I'm just struggling with my pants and now I've said too much. Anyway, I also ordered Mike Rowe's book and some Bob's Red Mill Oats.

Shopping took a good bit of my time. I get sidetracked easily and the next thing I know I was admiring muumuus. You can't tell me they don't look comfortable! Then, I started to feel sorry for Ryan and deleted it from my cart. I thought the granny panties will be sad enough for him. I'll have to save that for another time.

I finally did something with the sweet potato I cut a few days ago.
I put coconut oil in a bowl and microwave it, stir in the potatoes, season with some pepper, season salt and turmeric until it's mixed well. I put it on a baking sheet and cook @400 for 15 mins, stir it around and put it back in for another 10-15 mins. I like mine crispy and Ansley doesn't.

We didn't really have a plan when we started dinner but we notice a couple of peppers were going bad so I chopped them up and put them on the same sheet at the potatoes, for the last 10 minutes.

 
I decide to make some rice, mixed in some corn with a can of black beans and threw it all together in a bowl.

This is probably my favorite meal right now and I felt like we should eat something healthy after the last few days.

After dinner the kids and I watched two episodes of The Goldbergs and ChaChi went back to the Xbox. Ansley and I started A Million Little Things but turned it off when Ryan came home. Now, it's raining...again.

Social Distancing Day Six

Finished off the Honeycomb, finished off the wine...just had one small glass today. Started to make a Costco run but realized they were about to close. I will be doing social distancing dry for a while. I was on the wagon but...social distancing.

Watched murder shows most of the day, barely got off the couch until about 4:00. You know when you hear distance runners talking about "hitting a wall?" I feel like that's what today was like for social distancing. I still haven't finished the pantry. As I typed that I realize I didn't even stir my cantaloupe today.

Went for our 4 mile walk.

There is an owl in this video and if you listen you can hear it and another call back. It crazy how just getting outside can make you feel better. 

Someone had chalked this on the street.

Then we passed a house party blaring Ghost of Mississippi by The SteelDrivers. Give it a listen sometime.

Got home and made frozen pizza. We had thawed out some mystery meat from the freezer. Ryan Someone didn't write what it was on the package. We thought it was some kind of wild game but by the time it was thawed we realized it was ribs and didn't have time to smoke ribs.

Social Distancing Day Five

 Today's breakfast was steel cut oats with blueberries, pecans, cinnamon and honey. It's more like dessert to me. Oatmeal has been one of my favorite things my whole life. I decided to eat my breakfast in bed. As soon as I got in bed I heard the guy come back to get the rest of our tornado debris, it didn't all fit in one truck. I was disappointed I wasn't going to be able to watch him this morning. I watched the season finale of 68 Whisky. That's a pretty good show, kinda like a more inappropriate MASH.

My lilies started to open up so I trimmed the anthers. They make a mess and will actually leave stains.

 Here's my cantaloupe. I need to move on to step two because I can the "good" sees are at the bottom. I just went back and reread the article and it said use a fully repined fruit...which this one wasn't. Reading is fundamental. So should I continue with this mess or go ahead and quit now?

 ChaChi came down and we watched The First 48.

 I finished off this freezer burned butter pecan ice cream. I worked on the panty a little more. Have I mentioned how I like to start things and never finish them? Ryan and I waked about 3 miles tonight.

For dinner we had wild turkey (that Ryan killed), green beans and Rice-a-roni. Don't judge my rice to everything else ratio.

We live on a dead end street that picks back up behind our house. There was a bright light shining in the back door tonight. I dared Ryan to moon them. I won't say whether it took the dare or not but it was the highlight of my day 😀.

Social Distancing Day Four

 Got up around 8:30 (I'm really enjoying this part) and ate more Honeycomb. Watched this guy pick up some debris from the tornado that came through about a month ago. Why don't tornados have names? I watched from the window for a while and then walked outside to watch. It felt great outside. Like, I just wanted to watch but didn't want to seem like I was "watching him" you know what I mean? So that wasted like 20 minutes.

 ChaChi got up around noon and harassed me to play Xbox for about an hour. Ansley got up around 3:00 PM! You know if someone gets that much sleep you think they'd be nice and pleasant. Well, they aren't! There was several times today that I thought I needed to call an exorcist but due to social distancing, I refrained. The natives are getting restless. They played a game of Memory and ChaChi smoked Ansley. She said she wants a rematch.

ChaChi noticed our tulips are starting to come up! I love tulips! Our flower beds desperately need to be weeded. It has rained so much and cleaning up from the tornado I haven't gotten around to it and also, I hate doing it. 

 Ansley and I have been trying to reorganize the pantry today to see what kind of a food situation we have. Now, I just really want to go to Target or Homegoods and look for some glass jars. We didn't get finished so there will be more of the same tomorrow. We came across this MRE and ChaChi ate it. It was actually pretty tasty.

 Here's Dumdum just doing his usual thing. 

 I made homemade meat ball subs for dinner. David, if you come across this...yes, I used turkey. David is our neighbor and he is disgusted by the fact we eat ground turkey.

Ryan and I watched Kid Rock on Instagram Live. 

Social Distancing Day Three

Got up at 8:00 AM, ate two Jethro size bowl of Honeycomb. 

Stirred my cantaloupe. When I took the lid off it made a sound like it's under pressure...tomorrow this adventure may be a little more exciting...if that's even possible.

Watered ChaChi's plants. I have never liked plants in the house but we went dumpster diving and they were in there and now I water them. They are doing pretty well. The tallest one is a ZZ plant and it is poisonous. So yeah, I keep that one in the kitchen. If you look closely, you will see some new growth. That has to make you feel good! I don't know what the other three are but they are weird and you never know what they're gonna do. They were fat but now they're growing tall and skinny. I keep  waiting for that to happen to me. When Ansley was in Montana for two weeks last summer I killed her cactus. I killed Ryan's humming bird vine too. I'm proud to be keeping our dumpster plants alive.

Wednesday is my day to do chores so I did chores all day, fun. When I was doing the laundry I found one of ChaChi's cough drops that had made it all the way through the dryer and never opened~God is good, y'all.

I cut this sweet potato because I guess some cooking oil had gotten on it and it was going bad. I have a recipe for this but I'll have to cook that later.

Ryan brought home my favorite, Stargazer Lily. He must be spending a lot of money on hunting crap lately. I know they look a little crazy in that "vase' but that's all I had and they'll still smell good.

 The kids slept til noon ish, cleaned their rooms. ChaChi vacuumed for me,  played Xbox all day. Ansley unloaded dishes, cooked several meals and we watched The Voice.